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Stalling, developing good control, and landing are biggies. I learned to backflip and lazy susan before learning to axel. Flic flacs are also pretty easy to learn, but difficult to master... Learn to fade, and hold it as long as possible. 1/2 axel and roll ups would be next... and then you go back and learn better control of everything.That should take you the next few years...

Learn to land! Seriously! Landing is just an extension of the stall, but it gives you a great understanding of how to move the kite around while it is stalled. You'll wind up with a much greater appreciation of keeping the kite balanced in the wind if you work on landings before moving onto the more advanced tricks.

When I teach a new flier, after they have a decent grasp on controlling the kite in regular flight, I'll show them how to put the kite on it's back (Turtle position). Once they get that, I show them the Lazy Susan.

I feel these are some of the easiest steps for a dual line flier and they are usually encouraged with how fast they are progressing into the realm of slack line tricks.

after takeoff, flying, landing, stalls, and ground recoveries, next would be the axel. there's plenty in stalls and landing to keep one busy though for a while though. there's side slides, two points landings, tip stands, and snap stalls just to name a few.

once you start to axel, and feel comfortable with it, you can do one on each side, then bring them closer and closer together until they finally meet in the middle and if you do several in a row you're doing a cascade. once you learn to finesse the cascade a bit you've learned most of what you need to do a half axel.

if you do an axel from a tip stand it's called a coin toss, and you didn't even really have to learn a new trick.

one can't underestimate the usefulness of good kite control though, so making the effort in the beginning pays off tremendously later on.

To that end, the side slide is a great trick to learn, looks cool and teaches stall control. You're flying the kite in a stalled state. Very cool.

You should fly to have fun and do what you want rather than to please the crowd. That being said however, the people passing by me have made more positive comments about the side slide than anything.

Anything low, slow, and smooth tends to be the crowd favorite compared to all the "fun for me" flippy stuff. That stuff, if it draws a comment at all, is usually, "You need more wind." I throw a mixture into my flying; besides, the side slide is fun and as Allen says, "Very cool."

Someone mentioned on the old Forum that you need to mix precision and tricks so others (non-flyers) can appreciate that you have control of the kite. I've tried to follow that bit of wisdom. I have a long ways to go on precision ... tricks, too, for that matter. The surprise to me was that precision is fun, too. It's a fun journey, I'm glad I have a long ways to go.

I agree with all of what has been said above. Stall, side slides, axels, etc...

Just want to add one thing, if you are attempting tricks and it is starting to feel like work and your are not having any fun, take a break and just zoom around the sky.

If your kite flying session is degrading to a frustrating, I'm trying too hard state of affairs, land the kite, take a few deep breaths, relaunch and just spend some time flying circles, figure 8's and such until your mind clears. I would rather see someone having fun and enjoying the experience than getting frustrated about doing tricks.

Some good advice. Avoid burnout. I've seen lots of people work really hard on a lot of tricks and feel like they're getting nowhere. Six months (and 10 kites) later they drop out.

Much more joy if you've always got moves that you don't have to work at. Stuff you can relax and just fly. That bag of comfortable tricks grows slowly, but if you don't move too fast, you'll get really good at some things as you move along.

Elsewhere in Beginner's Corner is a poll that asks how long you've been flying. More than 65% of the respondents have been at it three years or more. 47% for more than 7 years. When you look at the videos, keep this in mind. People take YEARS to get that good at this stuff.

It's been mentioned several times, but it is true: Practice stalling the kite and then controlling the kite while in the stall.

But DO NOT try to snap stall. That's for tricks Kid.

What you want is to learn to control the kite.

Take the kite to the edge of the wind window. When it stops flying forward it is stalled. Then practice walking the kite down to a landing. Over and over and over.. for as long as you can stand to do it.

Then do something else.

Then go back and find different ways to amuse yourself at the windows edge while the kite is stalled.

The reason to do this is to develop the fine motor skills that it takes to control a kite when it is barely pulling on the lines.

Just do that until it becomes reflexive. Take a break when you get bored and do something else. Like maybe practice holding the kite up on one wing tip while it is on the ground.. another stall.

It will pay dividends down the road.

The more time you spend holding the kite in different attitudes while it is stalled the better.

It's been mentioned several times, but it is true: Practice stalling the kite and then controlling the kite while in the stall.

But DO NOT try to snap stall. That's for tricks Kid.

What you want is to learn to control the kite.

Take the kite to the edge of the wind window. When it stops flying forward it is stalled. Then practice walking the kite down to a landing. Over and over and over.. for as long as you can stand to do it.

Then do something else.

Then go back and find different ways to amuse yourself at the windows edge while the kite is stalled.

The reason to do this is to develop the fine motor skills that it takes to control a kite when it is barely pulling on the lines.

Just do that until it becomes reflexive. Take a break when you get bored and do something else. Like maybe practice holding the kite up on one wing tip while it is on the ground.. another stall.

It will pay dividends down the road.

The more time you spend holding the kite in different attitudes while it is stalled the better.

Kind of like rudiments for a drummer, scales for a sax, practicing these stalls and fine control will never leave you. It's what I do when I get frustrated trying to learn a new trick, or learning how to do an old one better. I'll do like Jim says, stall and walk the kite down to a tip stand or gentle landing. Cut box turns, or just do big loops in a controlled, decisive manner. Learning these tricks take seemingly forever, especially if you don't have someone to watch. If you want to learn at a much faster rate, go watch someone that can do all these things for a while. I think an hour of watching would be worth weeks, if not months of trial & error. I learned to do flic flacs by watching a skilled pilot for 5 minutes, after trying to do them by myself for months prior. There's something that gets lost in the videos that you can only see in person.Think of it this way.... what a great way to spend the rest of your life, learning how to master flying... All the tricks you'll learn, all the great kites to fly, and the great places to fly them. It's a great thing to look forward to.

I got my first kite in 1997, a Prism Ion, and flew it for about 5 years without learning how to stall. I had Flight School IV by Dodd Gross and couldn't figure out what the heck he was talking about for the longest time. And then I found this forum about 2003, got a Premier Nighthawk and learned to stall. And then I learned to turtle and then lazy susan.

One thing I did learn from the video was the cartwheel. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time learning it with my Prism Flashlight and broke a lot of sticks in the process.

Like Jim said, spend a lot of time at the edge of the wind window learning how the kite feels when it's stalled or nearly stalled. Once you get a good feeling for that, axels aren't too far behind.

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